Psych Chap 11

a process where the synaptic connections in the brain that are frequently used are preserved, and those that are not are lost ("use it or lose it")

critical period

biologically determined time period for the development of specific skills

sensitive periods

the specific points in development at which some skills or kinds of knowledge are learned most easily

attachment

a strong emotional connection that persists over time and across stimulants (usually between a caregiver and child)

secure attachment

attachment style for a majority of infants, who are readily comforted when their caregiver returns after a brief separation; one of Ainsworth's three types of child attachments (65%)

avoidant attachment

attachment style in which infants IGNORE their caregiver when he or she returns after a brief separation; one of Ainsworth's three types of child attachments (20-25%)

anxious-ambivalent attachment

attachment style in which infants become extremely upset when their caregiver leaves but reject the caregiver when he or she returns; one of Ainsworth's three types of child attachments (10-15%)

disorganized attachment

attachment style in which infants give mixed responses when their caregiver leaves and then returns from a short absence (smiles at them, but displaying fear or avoidance)

infantile amnesia

what Freud referred to as the inability to remember events from early childhood

source amnesia

difficulty knowing where they learned something; prevalent in young children

assimilation

the process by which a new experience is placed into an existing schema

accommodation

the process by which a new schema is changed to imcorperate a new experience that doesn't easily fit into an existing schema

sensorimotor

birth-2 years; differentiates self from objects; recognizes self as an agents of ACTION! and acts intentionally (ex: pulls a string to make mobile move); achieves object permanence: things exist even when they're not present to the senses; one of Piaget's four stages of development

preoperational

2-7 years; learns to use language/represent objects by images/words; thinking is egocentric (difficulty taking others' viewpoint); classifies objects by a single feature; one of Piaget's four stages of development

concrete operational

7-12 years; thinks logically about objects/events; achieves conservation of number, mass and weight?; classifies objects my multiple features and can order them in series along a single dimesion; one of Piaget's four stages of development

formal operational

12 and up; thinks logically about abstract propositions; tests hypotheses systematically; concerned with hypotheticals (future, ideological problems); one of Piaget's four stages of development

object permanence

the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it is hidden from view

theory of mind

the ability to explain and predict other people's behavior as a result of recognizing their mental state (knowing that other people have mental states and using that knowledge to recognize their mental states)

preconventional level

earliest level of moral development, in which self-interest determines what is moral; one of three levels of moral judgement devised by Kohlberg

conventional

middle stage of moral developement, in which rules and the approval of others determines what is moral; one of three levels of moral judgement devised by Kohlberg

postconventional

highest stage of moral development, in which decisions about morality depend on abstract principles; one of three levels of moral judgement devised by Kohlberg

morphemes

the smalest units that have meaning, such as suffixes or prefixes

phonemes

what makes up morphemes; are basic sounds

performatives

consist of wordlike sounds that are learned in a context and that a baby may not be using to represent a meaning (ex: saying hello when holding a phone, immitating an observed action but not understanding the meaning of hello)

true words

clearly meant to represent concepts (cat meaning the concept of a pet)

telegraphic speech

the tendency for children to speak using rudimentary sentences that are missing words and grammatical marking but follow a logical syntax

social development

the maturation of skills or ability to enable people to live in a world with other people